Means for igniting a gaseous fuel burner



Oct. 10, 1961 w. GRUNWALD MEANS FOR IGNITING A GASEOUS FUEL BURNER 2 SheetsSheet 1 Filed Feb. 19, 1958 INVE TOR MW Y 1 ATTORNEY (Jet. 10, 1961 w. GRUNWALD 3,003,549

MEANS FOR IGNITING A GASEOUS FUEL BURNER Filed Feb. 19. 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN ENTOR.

fink/f? United States Pateiit" 3,003,549 MEANS FOR IGNITING A GASEOUS FUEL BURNER l i Wolfgang Grunwald, Enebyberg, Sweden, assignor to Aktiebolaget Electrolux, Stockholm, Sweden, a corporation of Sweden Filed Feb. 19, 1958, Ser. No, 716,076 Claims priority, application sweden Feb. 21, 1957 3 Claims. (Cl; 158-143) My invention relates to apparatus operated by a'gaseous fuel burner.

It is an object of my invention to provide heat operated apparatus having an improved arrangement for igniting a gaseous fuel burner at an easily accessible region which is remote from the burner. I accomplish this by employing a heating flue of the apparatus to provide a vertically extending passage whose upper end serves as the region for igniting gas discharged at one zone of a burner lighter tube at the vicinity of thebottorn of the heating flue, and utilizing the flame produced at the first zone to' ignite gas discharged at a second zone of the-lighter tube toheat a safety device which, upon a predetermined rise in temperature, opens the main valve of the burner from which the main stream of gas is discharged and'ig'nit'ed at the vicinity of the first zone. I H

Further objects and advantages of my' invention will Become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and of which FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view, partly in' section, of a household refrigerator embodying my invention'; FIG} 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of parts of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is an exploded View of the parts shown in FIG. 2 to illustrate details more clearly; and FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic representation in section of the parts shown in FIGS. 2 and '3.

Referring'to FIG. 1, I have shown my invention embodied in a household refrigerator including a cabinet having thermally insulated walls 11 defining a storage compartment 12 into which access maybe gained by a door-'14 hinged to the front of the cabinet. V

Within the storage compartment 12 is disposed a cooling element or ev'aporator 15 of suitable refrigeration apparatus. AlthoughI do not wish tobe limited thereto, I preferably employ refrigeratioii'apparatus of a uniform pressure absorption type, generally as, described'in latent No. 1,609,334 to von Platen and Munter s. In refrigeration apparatus of thi s type, the cooling element 15 is connected to' other parts, including a generator 16, which are mounted on the cabinet 10 and positioned inthevertically extending space 17 at the rear of the cabinet. In

order to simplify the drawing,'only thegenerator 16 has been shown in rear a pparatus space 17 of F IG. 1, an illustration of the other parts: of the refrigeration apparatus not being necessary for an understanding of my invention.

The generator. 16, whichcohstitutes the heiat receiving of. the refrigeration. apparatus, includes an outer shell 18 throhgh' which extendsa heating flue 19, the lower erid of which projects below the bottomof the shell intoltherear part of' 'a space ZQbeIow'the storage comp' ment 12," which is acce ssible' through an opening 21 at the front of the cabinet Illadapted tobe closed by a removable closure member or 'hinged. door (not shown). The heating, flue 19 is provided with a riser or flue extension '22'whieh extends upwardly in the rear apparatus space: and is mounted in position in suitablemanner. The upper end of the riser 22 maybe flush with an apertured' member 23 so that natural circulation of air may takepla ce in the rear apparatus space 17 to promote cooling of'parts of the refrigeration apparatus. Although not essential, the rear apparatus space 17 may be provided with a rear cover plate 24. v

The refrigeration apparatus is operated by a gaseous fuel which is delivered from a suitable source of supply through a conduit 25 to a burner 26 which is positioned at the rear of the space 20 and arranged to discharge its flame into the lower end of the heating flue 19. As best shown inFIGS. 2, 3, and 4 the burner 26 comprises a base 27. to which .is threadedly connected an outer tube 28. The outer tube 28 serves to hold in position an inner tube 29 having a bottom chamber 29a into which gaseous fuel discharges from an orifice 30 in the base 27. Primary air is drawn downwardly in the gap 31 of annular form between the outer and inner tubes 28 and 29 and passes through ports 32 into the bottom chamber 29a in the inner tube 29 where it mixes with the gas toprovide a gas mixture. The combustible gas mixture flows upwardly through a ce'ntralpassage 33 in the inner tube 29 and is discharged through ports 34 at which region the gas mixtureis ignited and the'bur'ner flame is produced and'maintained.

Thebase 27 of the burner 26 forms part of a casting 35 having a number of drilled openings to provide a path of flow for the gaseous fuel from the conduit 25 to the burner 26. The drilled openings provide a hollow passage 36:: in the horizontal arm 36 communicating with the burner base 27 and a passage 37a extending vertically therefrom in a member 37 to a level at the region of the hollow bosses 38 and 39 which are formed integrally with the member 37. The hollow boss 38, to which the conduit 25 is connected, provides a passage 38a in cornrr'ruiiication with the upper end of the vertical passage 37a in themember 37. Within passage 39a in the hollow boss 39 is disposed the mainvalve 39b for controlling the flow of gaseous fuel to the burner 26, such valve being movable from and to its closed position responsive toa safety device comprising a thermal element 40 to which is connected a strip of metal 41 which is formed of metal having good heat conductivity and arranged to extend upwardly to the vicinity of the region at which the burner flame is maintained.

The top part of the member 35 is recessed to receive a pin 42 depending downwardly from a plate 43 adapted to be removably secured to the bottom of the generator shell 18. The member 35 is formed with a threaded opening adapted to receive a cap screw 44Vfor adjustably mounting the burner 26 in position at the bottom end of the heating .flue 19. The holding plate 43 is formed with a depressed portion 45 formed with an opening 46 and within which the extreme lower end of the heating tube 19,snugly fits, so that secondary air mixes with the combustiblejmixture'discharged from thepor ts 34 and flows through theopenin'g 46in the plate 43. s.

In accordancewith my invention, the burner 26' is provided with a lighter tube which includes a first hollow section 47 which provides a passage 47a and is formed with; a discharge orifice or slot 48 at the vicinity of and belowthe thermal element 40 and metal strip 41, and a second section 49which provides a passage 49a and is in the form of tubing which is connected at one end at 50.

to thefir'st section 47 and the opposite outer free end of which is arranged to discharge gaseous fuel therefrom intothe lower end of the heating flue, as indicated at 51 inFIGS.2and4. t p

The first section 47 of the lighter tube comprisesa hollow sleeve having the inner end thereof snugly fitting withina hollow boss 52 of the member 35. The member 35 is also formed with a vertical passage 35 through which a part of the gaseous fuel flowing to the boss 38 is diverted downwardly therefrom to the hollow boss 52 for flow through a passage 52a therein to the first and second sections 47 and 49, respectively, of the burner lighter tube. 7

Within the passage 52a in hollow boss 52 is provided a valve 52b which is normally biased to its closed position by a spring 520 and may be moved to an'open position by pressing a push button 53.

The operation of the burner 26 and safety device just described is substantially as follows. To start the burner 26 the push button 53 is pressed to open the valve 52b in the boss 52. Although the main valve 39b, which is disposed in the hollow boss 39, is in its closed position, gaseous fuel can now flow from the boss 38, which is ahead of the main burner valve, to both sections 47 and 49 of the burner lighter tube.

The gas issuing from the second section 49 of the burner lighter tube mixes with air at a first zone at the outer free end 51 thereof and the gas mixture flows upwardly through the heating flue 19 and riser 22 extending upwardly therefrom. The gas mixture discharged from the upper end of the riser 22 may be conveniently ignited at the top of the cabinet 10. By properly positioning the outer free end 51 of the second section of the burner lighter tube with respect to the opening 46 in the holding plate 43, the gas mixture discharged from the riser 22 will have the desired ratio of gas and air so that, when this gas mixture is ignited, the resulting flame produced will flash back through the vertical passage formed by the riser 22 and heating flue 19 and in this way ignite the gaseous fuel discharged at 51 from the second section of the burner lighter tube.

The flame produced at 51 at the outer end of the second burner lighter tube is effectively utilized to ignite the-gaseous fuel discharged upwardly from the orifice 48 in the first section 47 of the burner lighter tube, the resulting flame produced being in a second zone which is effective to heat the metal strip 41 from which heat is effectively conducted to the thermal element 40. When the thermal element 40 is heated to a definite high temperature, movement is imparted thereto to cause the main valve 39b in the boss 39 to move to its open position and permit gaseous fuel to flow to the burner 26.

The flame produced at 51 at the outer end of the second section 49 of the burner lighter tube ignites the gas mixture discharged from the ports 34 of the burner 26, and, since some of the ports are disposed beneath the metal strip 41, heating of the latter will be effected by the flame produced by the burner 26. When this occurs the push button 53 may be released to close valve 52b and shut off the flow of gaseous fuel to the first and second sections 47 and 49 of the burner lighter tube.

If for any reason the main burner flame produced at the ports 34 is extinguished, the thermal element 40 will no longer receive heat from the metal strip 41, so that movement will be imparted to the element 40 to close the main valve 3% disposed in theboss 39 and completely shut off flow of gaseous fuel to the burner 26.

In view of the foregoing, it will now be understood that the vertical passage formed by the heating flue 19 and riser 22 are effectively employed to start operation of the burner 26 when the push button 53 is manually operated to supply gaseous fuel to bothsections 47 and 49 of the burner lighter tube, such gaseous fuel being easily lighted from a region at the top of the cabinet which is remote from the outer free end 51 of one section of the burner lighter tube and orifice 48 of the other section 47 of the burner lighter tube. It will be understood that suitable mechanism (not shown) may be provided for actuating push button 53 at will from a region which is readily accessible, as at the top rear part of the cabinet 10, for example.

Although a particular embodiment of my invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent that modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In combination, a burner having a discharge orifice from which the burner flame is adapted to project upwardly, means including a supply line for flowing gaseous fuel to the burner, a safety device for main taining the supply line open responsive to the temperature of the flame which is produced and maintained at the burner discharge orifice and for shutting off flow of gaseous fuel through the supply line when the flame is eX- tinguished, the safety device including a heat conducting part having its extreme end portion at the vicinity of the burner discharge orifice and a second portion adjacent thereto which is laterally removed from the burner discharge orifice, a burner lighter tube communicating with the supply line at a region thereof ahead of the safety device, means including a manually operable member for controlling flow of gaseous fuel to the burner lighter tube, the burner lighter tube having a plurality of sections, one of the burner lighter tube sections having a discharge orifice which is disposed at the immediate vincinity of the burner discharge orifice, and another of the burner lighter tube sections having a discharge orifice which is positioned with respect to the orifice of the one burner lighter tube section so that gaseous fuel discharged therefrom will be ignited by the flame produced at the discharge orifice of the one burner lighter tube section, the other lighter tube section being arranged to effect heating of the second portion of the heat conducting part of the safety device to maintain the supply line open.

2. In combination, a burner having a discharge orifice from which the burner flame is adapted to project upwardly, means including a supply line for flowing gaseous fuel to the burner, a safety device for maintaining the supply line open responsive to the temperature of the flame which is produced and maintained at the burner discharge orifice and for shutting off flow of gaseous fuel through the supply line when the flame is extinguished, the safety device including a heat conducting part having its extreme end portion at a first level at the vicinity of the burner discharge orifice and a second portion adjacent thereto which is at a lower level than the first level and at one side of the burner, a burner lighter tube communicating with the supply line at a region thereof ahead of the safety device, means including a manually operable member for controlling flow of gaseous fuel to the burner lighter tube, the burner lighter tube having a pair of discharge orifices at different levels, the higher burner lighter tube discharge orifice being disposed so that gaseous fuel issuing therefrom will be discharged into-a region at the immediate vicinity of the burner discharge orifice, the lower burner lighter tube discharge orifice being positioned with respect to the higher burner lighter tube discharge orifice so that gaseous fuel discharged therefrom will be ignited by the flame produced at the higher level burner lighter tube discharge orifice, the lower burner lighter tube discharge orifice being arranged to effect heating of the second portion of the heat conducting part ofthe safety device to maintain the supply line open.

3. Incombination, a burner having a discharge orifice from which the burner flame is adapted to project upwardly, means including a supply line for flowing gase ous fuel to the burner, a safety device for maintaining the supply line open responsive to the temperature of the flame which is producedand maintained at the burner discharge orifice and for shutting off flow of gaseous fuel through the supply line when the flame is extinguished, the safety device including a metallic heat conducting strip having its extreme end portion at the vicinity of the burner discharge orifice and a second portion adjacent thereto which is at one side of the burner, a burner lighter tube communicating with the supply line at a region thereof ahead of the safety device, means including a manually operable member for controlling flow of gaseous fuel to the burner lighter tube, the burner lighter tube having first and second sections connected in tandem, the second outer section of the burner lighter tube having a discharge orifice which is disposed so that the flame produced by igniting the gaseous fuel issuing therefrom will be located at the immediate vicinity of the burner discharge orifice, the first inner section of the burner lighter tube having a discharge orifice which is positioned with respect to the discharge orifice of the second outer section of the burner lighter tube so that gaseous fuel discharged therefrom will be ignited by the flame produced at the discharge orifice of the second outer section of the burner lighter tube, the discharge orifice of the inner section of the burner lighter tube being arranged to effect heating of the second portion of the heat conducting strip of the safety device to maintain the supply line open.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

